The Hawk And the Dragon
by Little Tsu
Summary: Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff were sent out on a espionage/retrieval mission when a beam of light from the Bifrost was recorded on the S.H.I.E.L.D satelite feed in Greece. However, what Clint didn't expect was what exactly it was that the Bifrost had brought to Earth...Now he's been given a new mission...(Set a few months after the Chitauri & Loki's attack, Coulson still alive)
1. Chapter 1

_Little Tsu: Ok so...I might either pull this off as far as like the personalities go...orrr, I bomb at it. I've always been a huge Marvel fan & even though all of my stories have only been towards anime or video game categories, I felt compelled ta try my hand at this. Whether it goes anywhere beyond the first chap will be up ta you readers._

_The reason behind my wantin' ta try this though is cause I love the Avengers movie very much, but...I felt that Hawkeye didn' get the amount of screentime that he truly deserved so this story will revolve mostly around him & his life as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, but also introduce an OC that I had created quite a while back._

_Anyways, I hope you enjoy._

**The Hawk And The Dragon**

_**{Mount Olympus; Greece}**_

As a mountain range greatly notable within Greek Mythology as the home of the Twelve Olympians, those living within its vast sights grew up hearing stories and legends that surrounded it. However, despite the beliefs that the locals grew up around, none of it could've prepared them for the sight anyone saw early one morning before the sun was even beginning to rise. A dark spiral of clouds whirled around the peaks of the mountain range as thunder echoed distantly. Mere moments later, a flash of light shot through the center of the cloud spiral and crashed into one of the higher, snowcapped points, creating a cloud of rock, snow, and ice. No sooner that the beam of light appeared, that it vanished; taking the spiralling clouds with it as they dispursed.

_**{New York City; S.H.I.E.L.D HQ}**_

Within the Command Center, Director Fury and his technical operatives were hard at work in trying to figure out what the strange anomaly was that had suddenly caused their satelite radars to go off in an alarm. Stepping forward a few paces to the center of the room, Fury gazed out towards the large center screen that was giving readings from whatever it was that they suddenly detected. "Agent Coulson. Has the systems picked up on what caused our radars to go on full alert?"

Coulson turned his attention onto his boss and nodded his head lightly before having the technicians bring up the satelite feed on the large screens in front of them as they played the data that had been recorded. The feed was slightly staticed due to the radiation within the storm, but they had managed to catch the bright beam of flashing light before it vanished along with the scenery of where it had taken place. "It's rather static, but we believe that this is the same occurance that happened when the Asgardian, Thor came to Earth, sir."

"And do you believe that this is Thor? Or is it someone else? Because right now, I'm betting that it's something else entirely considering where that light flashed down. Now I'm no expert in geography, but I know for a fact that where that light hit was not anywhere within the United States."

"So what are you suggesting we do, sir? Call on the Avengers again?"

"Assembling the Avengers Initiative would take too long for this and we might miss our window of opportunity...Send out Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff. They're the best field agents we have for espionage missions. They are to leave right away and hopefully, they'll manage to find out who or **what** came with that light."

"Yes sir, right away." Agent Coulson then dismissed himself as he lifted a hand to his headset and contacted Barton and Romanoff, who were currently in the weapons training room. "Agent Barton. We have a mission for you and Agent Romanoff. Gather up your equipment and make sure you dress relatively warmly."

_-"Where exactly are you sending us and for what reason?"-_

"We're sending the two of you to Greece...Or rather, more specifically, Mount Olympus. Our satelite feed picked up on an anomaly that occurred there half an hour ago and we think that it was someone or something using the Bifrost. We don't think that it's Thor or his friends from Asgard since it's highly unlikely that they would land out there."

_-"Understood sir. We'll leave immediately. Barton, out."-_

_**{Hour later}**_

Landing the Quinjet safely upon the mountainous and snowy terrian, Clint shut down the engines after lowering the platform in the back. Stepping out, both agents were in their usual mission attire, but had cloaks draped around their shoulders and neck. Glancing around at their snowy surroundings, Clint adjusted his quiver that held his supply of arrows on his back while his collapsible Recurve Bow was safely rested against the back of his shoulder next to his quiver for quick access if needed. "Well, lets get this started 'Tasha. I spotted the crater that the light made about half a kilometer north of our current location." Seeing his occassional partner nod her head lightly in compliance, they began to make their trek up the mountainside.

As they finally managed to make it to where the crater was, the older man peered within it, only to spy something was indeed at the bottom of it. "Looks like whatever it was is still here, but by the looks of it, it's not moving." Thinking for a moment, Clint brought his gaze onto Natasha and nodded his head lightly. "I'm going down there. Stay put and back me up if this thing suddenly strikes out." Before he could even let his partner attempt to argue on this, he was already sliding smoothly down the slight slope that the crater had made. Upon halting at the bottom, Clint carefully made his way over to the center where the snow had already covered a good portion of whatever had come down with the Bifrost. However, the closer he got, the more he began to realize that it wasn't a 'thing', but a some**one**. Slowly kneeling down before the mystery being, he reached out and brushed some of the snow away that was concealing them. Once done, his crystal blue eyes seemed to widen a fraction in surprise at the sight before him. "I don't think Director Fury expected this..."

Laying there in the snow was what looked like an eighteen-year-old girl of a rather short stature. Her long, silky hair was splayed out all around her in a lavender curtain and her attire was almost Asgardian in style, but possessed what looked like amethyst gems and teal scale looking plates. Their eyes were currently closed and by the occasional frosty breath that escaped past their barely parted lips, their breathing was labored and she was most definately unconscious. Shaking his head lightly to clear his thoughts, Clint straightened up in his knelt position and glanced up and over his shoulder. "'Tasha, the light landed what looks like a young girl here, but she's completely out cold and by the looks of things, injured too!"

"We better get her back to Headquarters then and put her under servailance untill we can figure out who she is. You think she's from Asgard?" Watching as Clint hoisted the body carefully into his arms in a bridal position, she shifted faintly on her feet as she made sure to keep a close eye on the unconscious girl in her partner's arms. After all, even though she looked human enough save for the hair color, she came here via Bifrost so that definately meant she was extraterrestrial and not merely a mutant. When Clint arrived at the top of the crater, Natasha managed to get a much better look at the girl as she spied the cuts and bruses that marred what bit of skin was visible. "I'll fly us back so you can keep a watchful eye on her. We can't have her waking up and possibly attacking while we're heading back." With an understanding nod from Clint, Natasha headed back to where they had landed their Quinjet with the male right behind her so that they could make their way back home.

_**{S.H.I.E.L.D HQ}**_

Word had been sent back to Headquarters about their findings out on Mount Olympus and had already gotten the confinement chamber that they had redesigned to even hold beings like Thor and Loki ready upon their arrival back to base. As the door slid open, Agent Barton walked down the slight hall to where the tank was and walked around it to where the entrance to it was. Agent Coulson and Director Fury were already in the room and had been awaiting their return so when they saw what was within their fellow agent's arms still unconscious, they were actually a bit surprised by the fact that it was what looked like a young girl. Of course the Director had managed to keep a straight, stern expression so only Coulson's eyes had actually widened a bit in his surprise.

Stepping into the glass chamber after he managed to type in the access code to get in, Clint walked over to the simple bed that looked more like something from the army, and gently layed her down upon it. Once his arms were free again, the marksman narrowed his eyes faintly as he studied the girl more closely now for a moment before the voices outside of the chamber snapped him out of it. Turning his back on the mysterious creature, he left the chamber and closed up the door as it automatically locked behind him. That was when he finally turned his attention onto his commander. "Sir, what exactly do you plan to do with the girl? I understand that she's from another world, but despite being unconscious currently, she hardly looks dangerous."

"It's not good to underestimate a potential threat simply due to the way they appear Agent Barton. You know this as well as I do that mere appearances can be very deceiving. Do not let your gaurd down around her, are we clear on this?" When Clint nodded his head in confirmation, Director Fury brought his hands to rest loosely against his lower back before speaking once more. "Good. Once she awakens, make sure to inform me and keep me posted on her activity within the chamber. I'm giving you the assignment of keeping watch on this extraterrestrial Agent Barton since you have the best eyes." With that said, he made his way out of the expansive room with Agent Coulson right behind him along with Agent Romanoff, though she had stayed put for a moment or two longer to stare at her partner; wondering if he would actually be capable of doing this or if he'd go easy on the girl like he had with her the day he was supposed to eliminate her as part of his mission back from before she decided to join S.H.I.E.L.D.

Watching his director and fellow agents leave the room, Clint surveyed his surroundings a moment before nimbly leaping up and climbing to the rafters so that he could watch her better through the glass ceiling, yet also stay hidden from view within the shadows. While seated there with a leg propped up so his knee was bent and a folded arm rested upon said knee, thoughts began to filter through his head as he watched the unconscious form below him. He knew that Fury was right. He also knew all too well that underestimating any possible enemy simply based on appearance alone could get you into trouble as it had happened a few times to some of the other agents that he had to save during missions. However, no matter how many times he tried to convince himself that she was dangerous and a currently unknown extraterrestrial, he couldn't shake the feeling that she couldn't possibly be a threat...At least not to them anyways...

A few hours had passed since he positioned himself within the rafters when the girl finally began to move a bit. Casting his sharp crystal blue eyes onto the girl, he watched her closely as she stirred a bit more before seeming to flinch slightly with the movements as if her muscles hurt. However, from the cuts and bruses that was still on her, he wouldn't be surprised if that were, in fact, the case. It was only when her eyes finally began to open slowly, that he seemed to become a tiny bit more curious in the small girl. Her sharp eyes almost seemed to glow as they were an almost mesmerizing shade of gold; something he'd never seen before save for a few mutants that he had come across in his line of work and even then he knew most mutants didn't have such a color. Snapping out of his thoughts, his eyes narrowed slightly in a studying manner as he watched her slowly push herself up into a sitting position and twist around so that her legs rested over the edge of the bed and her feet touched the ground.

The young looking girl carefully pushed herself up onto her feet to stand, staggering a bit as she took a step, before glancing around when her vision came fully into focus. Knitting her brows slightly in confusion towards where she was, she soon took note that she had unconsciously retracted her true appearance into hiding within her body when she had made contact with the ground with such an impact. Closing her eyes gently, she allowed slanted back white horns with teal scaled plates like on her armor to cover her ears like protective coverings. However, that wasn't all that appeared upon her as large white wings with a lavender membrane and three sickle styled claws each on the top of her wings to sprout out of her back slowly and extend to their full length in a stretch as well as a long, whip-like tail with a triple axe tip to suddenly lash leasurely behind herself. Both had the same teal scaled platings on them as her horns and armor.

Sighing softly to herself in relief towards having her draconic features out once again, she soon tensed up slightly as she felt the presence of someone in the room with her. Carefully scanning the room that the chamber she was in was contained in, she finally looked up into the rafters. She couldn't see whoever it was, but she definately sensed them as she locked her gaze right on where they were. "I know you are there...Come down and desist spying on me." There was silence following her strangely whimsical tone for a moment before finally she heard shifting with her accute hearing and finally the hidden figure gracefully manuvered themself down to the ground bellow. Slowly walking over to the wall of the circular glass chamber, the girl tilted her head slightly to the side in faint confusion and curiosity. "Who are you?...Why am I here and exactly what is this contraption that you have me contained inside of?"

Stepping a bit closer to the chamber, Clint crossed his well defined arms over his chest as he listened to the girl speak. He had honestly not even remotely expected her to have such an strange appearance, but then again, he had to admit that she was far better to look at than those Chitauri that had attacked and destroyed practically half of New York City with Loki a few month ago. She still looked much younger than himself appearance wise, but he had learned that those from other worlds could live hundreds of thousands of years longer than humans. "You know, it's common courtesy here on Earth to introduce yourself before. However, as to where you are and why you're in there,..." Clint nodded his head faintly to the chamber she was in as he said the last word. "you're in S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters down in the lowest sector of it. The chamber you're in is to contain any hostile enemies that we capture so I suggest you not try to break out. It's strong enough to hold even Thor and his so called brother, Loki."

"Thor and Loki...?...You mean this thing was built to hold Asgardians and other worldly beings that are not from Midgard?" Creasing her brows again in confusion towards this, she lifted a delicate hand to rest against the glass before glancing around herself momentarily before shifting her gaze back up towards the human before her. He was quite a bit larger than her in comparison now that he was close enough. He must've been at least twice her overall size in build and over a foot taller since she stood at a mere 4'8 or so in height. As she studied him for a few seconds longer, she finally spoke up once more. "My name is Aasterinian, but...my tribe had called me Alister for short since my name is not the simplist to pronounce for other races."

"Alright...So you're name is Alister and you're definately not from this world judging by your appearance. On top of that, you traveled here through the Bifrost. What are you exactly and why are you here on Earth? What are your motives?" Now he was getting more serious as he began his interrigation on the girl before him. She seemed confused about her entire situation at hand, but other than that, she seemed at least cooperative with him and he could tell she hadn't lied yet despite having only introduced herself thus far.

"I'm a Malakete, a nomadic race that drifted from one world to the next via the Bifrost, thus the reason behind us receiving the nickname 'Jumper'. We had no set home world like the rest of the races did so we were merely drifters with high magical properties. However, I was unfortunate to be born without any magic and what 'magic' I do have within me are merely illusion based from what my father had informed me, but that magic lies dormant still inside of me." Tilting her head down a bit to gaze at the ground, her golden depths seemed to narrow faintly in concentration as if trying to remember something. It was then that she spoke again. "I...don't fully know what I'm doing here on Midgard. My kind were caught up in the middle of a war on the world we had been visiting at the time and...there was a lot of death...My people tried to defend themselves and escape, but...I was the only one to get away with my life. I was knocked into the portal and sent spiraling through the Bifrost." Shaking her head lightly to clear her thoughts and try to ignore the headache that was beginning to come on, Alister slowly brought her gaze back up to lock with the strange human's crystal blue eyes. "I...guess this world was where the Bifrost landed me..."

Nodding his head lightly as he took all of this in carefully, Clint knew that he would have to leave for now so that he could report in on everything she had just told him. The amount of information she had given him had been quite the amount, but she didn't seem to be lying about any of it. Director Fury, Agent Coulson, and possibly the majority of the Avengers would most likely tell him not to believe every word she said and that she could be hiding her true motives behind an innocent front, but he could just tell. The look of honest confusion and sense of loss in her gaze told him that she wasn't lying about any of this. "Well, I need to go and report in to my superiors. I'll be back later with something to eat for you since I'm pretty sure you're hungry after that sort of ordeal..." With that, Clint turned away to leave the room. However, as he made it halfway to the exit, he halted as she called out to him.

"Um...wait, please? I...You didn't tell me your name in return..."

Glancing behind himself at Alister from over his shoulder, he saw that she had followed him from within her chamber and was standing there on the other side of the glass with her hands against the glass wall and gazing at him intently. "Name's Clint Barton. I'll see you again soon Alister." With an ever so faint smirk, clint faced the front once more and left the room; the doors sliding shut automatically behind him.

**To Be Continued.**

_Little Tsu: Well,...possibly anyways. What did ya'll think? As I said up top, this is my first time even attemptin' somethin' like this that isn' video game or anime so hopefully it didn' turn out too bad & that I didn't completely botch up the characters' personalities or the manner that they speak...x.x"_


	2. Chapter 2

_Little Tsu: Ok so her the next chap of my Avengers story, but it might be a bit on the short side...At least shorter than the first chapter possibly. Anyways, hope_ ya enjoy...

**Ch: 2**

"And you're absolutely positive that she's telling the truth?"

Director Fury had currently been in his office, going over some paperwork that had been set upon his desk earlier when Agent Barton had entered the room and reported to him on everything. It seemed that not only was the extraterrestrial conscious now, but she had given up her name and supposedly her reason for being here without even so much as a struggle. Unfortunately, as much as he would have liked to believe that things could be that simple, that was never the case. Nothing was ever that easy and simply given to them without some sort of hidden motive...Loki's supposed capture and confinement within the helicarrier months previously had been proof of that. With that previous experience still rather fresh in his mind, he brought his single gaze to pierce unwaveringly into the equally unwavering eyes of the agent before him. "We cannot have a repeat of last time Barton. As far as I'm concerned, that creature is still a threat and will be considered as such until I deem otherwise with my own observation."

Clint didn't show any reaction towards being told this. If he had, then the Director would have most likely refused to allow him to even go near the girl. However, deep in his mind, he couldn't help but feel a bit of contempt towards his commander. It's not that he couldn't nessessarily blame the older man, but he hadn't been there when Alister spoke to him. He hadn't seen the mixed expressions of confusion, loss, and almost emptiness that had flashed within those molten gold eyes of hers. Despite all of this, the archer managed to keep a stoic air about himself; never giving himself away to how he was feeling on the matter at hand. "Sir, I request permission that she be released and placed under my direct watch. I won't let her out of my sight even for a minute and I'll discern whether she's infact really a hostile or if she was being completely truthful in her information..."

The older man squinted his only visible eye towards Barton in a slightly suspicious manner as if he thought his operative had some ulterior motive towards his request. Deciding that he would still take a chance on this, he nodded his head lightly as he gave in to the request. After all, Agent Barton had the best eyes among his agents and he had yet to have given him any reason not to trust him; Loki's mind control over him not counting. "Alright then Agent Barton...Permission granted. However!...Should she prove to be hostile, I'll be taking matters into my own hands and give the order to the rest of the Avengers to have her eliminated. Do I make myself clear on this?"

Nodding his head, he continued to keep the professional aura around him in check. "Crystal, sir."

"Then get to it Barton. Your solo mission starts now. I'm trusting you not to get compromised in this after last time..."

He nodded his head once more, this time a bit more stiffly and forced, before he turned around and left the office. Once the door closed behind himself and he was further down the hall, he slammed his clenched fist into the wall as he allowed his concealed anger to surface slightly. The time during when he was under Loki's control was still a bit of a sensitive subject and Fury had brought it up on purpose. He was warning him that he had better not let himself be swayed by the girl's 'innocent act' or he would immediately be taken off the mission and the girl would be delt with in a more deadly fashion. Narrowing his eyes slightly at that thought, he shook his head to clear his mind before straightening up once more. Once calm again, Clint made his way towards the elevator to take himself down to the room where the containment cell was that held Alister.

* * *

><p>While all of this had been happening, Alister had been sitting upon the floor within the center of the glass cell. Her legs were crossed indian style and her palms resting gently over her knees with her eyes closed as if she were meditating. However, meditation was not at all what she was doing; the almost restless flicking of the end of her tail being proof of that. Instead, her mind seemed to be at war within her head as flashes of images rushed through; sending faint sparks of pain shooting through her mind as that was the reason for her tail's slight jerks. It was only when she heard the distant sounds of footsteps that were not part of the visions within her mind, that she suddenly jerked herself out of it with a sudden snap of her eyes. Bringing her sharp gaze towards the direction of the footsteps, she saw that it was the man from earlier...So he really did return. "Hello Clint Barton...I had honestly not expected you to keep your promise to return anytime soon since I seem to be a...hostile as I believe you had put it."<p>

Walking along the path to the door to the cell, he typed in the passcode before 'access granted' flashed green across the small screen. When the door slid open, Clint stepped inside and strode over to the small girl before holding his hand out for her to take. "Lets get you out of this cell, alright? I don't believe you actually belong in here to be perfectly honest."

Brows creasing at this in confusion, Alister hesitantly took the male's larger hand into her own delicate one before she was suddenly gently pulled up onto her feet. Without being able to get a word out first, she was calmly lead out of the glass chamber and down the path towards the elevator. Once pulled inside the strange contraption, Alister glanced around herself before watching as the doors slide shut on them and Clint pressed a few buttons, causing the machine to begin moving. As it did though, she took the chance to try speaking again to ask what was going on. "Um...Not that I'm not glad to be out of that cell, but why did you release me of it and where exactly are you taking me?"

Glancing down at the small creature beside him, he saw the look of complete dumbfounded confusion and he couldn't help but actually chuckle at the expression on her face. It made her look that much more like a child despite not even being human. "I've been given the task of looking after you and to be perfectly honest, I can't really do that effectively with you in confinement like that. Especially, if I were to get called out to go on a mission. So, I've taken it upon myself to decide that you'll be living with me now in my apartment that's within the Avengers Tower." Turning his head and gaze to the front, he did so just as the elevator came to a smooth halt and the doors opened for them to step out. Motioning for her to follow this time rather than taking her hand again, Clint stepped out of the elevator and made his way through the halls to leave S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters all together for the remainder of the day since he'd been given his orders.

Blinking slightly in faint surprise by the information she'd been given, Alister gasped faintly as the elevator doors began to close again. Quickly bolting, she got out just before they closed on her again with her tail missing being crushed by the very tip of the triple axe blades. Hurrying off after Clint to catch up, she adamantly ignored the surprised looks that were casted onto herself from other agents that saw her rush by along with the murmerings about her appearance. However, it was only when she caught up to the man she was hurrying after, did she realize he had halted suddenly. Jerking to a stop once at his side again, she took a startled step back with one boot as her sharp eyes widened in surprise when he actually jerked his head towards her and locked a stern gaze with her own as if he were about to scold her for some reason. "Um...C-Clint Barton? Is...something wrong?"

Dragging his gaze hard over Alister's entire form, his eyes remained narrowed and his brows creased in a calculating fashion. Murmering to himself at first, he finally spoke up. "You had best hide those reptile features of yours. After the last encounter New York had with extraterrestrials, I highly doubt they'd react kindly to how you really look and I really don't need to deal with a stampede of panicking people right now; no offense."

Alister was once again confused towards what he was meaning by that, but then decided it was best not to ask for a more indepth explaination. Instead, she merely did as Clint requested of her and closed her eyes gently as her tail, wings, and horns retracted back within her body. Now, save her her strange attire along with her hair and eye color, she looked wholely human...Though to the average human, one would think her hair is just merely dyed and she was wearing contacts so really, only her attire would actually stand out. At seeing the now thoughtful look she was being given now, she bit her bottom lip slightly and fidgeted a bit under the studying gaze of the much larger man. "Um...is this still not satisfying enough for me to not stand out amongst the Midgardians?"

"...Your armor...Can you somehow change it or do we have to actually go out and buy you some clothing that would help you to blend in a bit better?"

"I would beable to with my illusions, but...as I had explained earlier, that only form of 'magic' that I possess is still dormant inside of me...So unfortunately, I cannot conceal my current attire with a more midgardian look."

"Hm...Alright then...We best take you shopping for clothes first then...This might be difficult since I'm not exactly what you would call an expert on women's clothing and I have no idea what size you are anyways. We'll have to have the clerks help with all of that." Shaking his head, Clint gave a soft sigh of exasperation before leading Alister once more out of the building and towards his car before driving off once he managed to get her seated in the passenger seat and buckled in. This was going to be a long day; he just knew it...

**To be continued.**

_Little Tsu: Told ya it was gonna be a short one, buuut, I do promise longer ones like the first chap in the future...If the story gets good reviews that is. That means you Followers. Your thoughts on the story so far would be really helpful towards my encouragement.x.x"_


	3. Chapter 3

_Little Tsu: Ok, ideas, words, images, & scenes are flashin' about rapidly in my head & mixin' with all that from other stories so before I forget, here's the next chap. Enjoy!_

**Ch:3**

_~"Aasterinian. I know you can hear me. Listen and listen well Malakete."_

_Alister glanced around herself nervously at the sound of the voice, but she couldn't see anyone at all. The planet she found herself standing on was mostly water from the looks of it and where she stood was what appeared to be a tropical climated island. It was only when she heard the voice directly behind her, did she jolt slightly and her dragon features shot out as she whipped around to lash her tail at whoever was behind her. Even her wings were at the ready since they had sickle styled claws on them. When her tri-axe bladed tail hit nothing though, she became even more paranoid till she suddenly felt a sharp ringing in her head and quickly clutched the base of her horns that covered her ears and her eyes clenching tightly shut in pain._

_"I would suggest you not resist **girl**...You will only get hurt otherwise and I don't think you wish for that. After all,...I would **hate**...to have no choice but have you killed as well after I had already wiped out the rest of your kind for their refusal despite our...rough history between the our two races..." It was after the voice said this though that the owner of it finally revealed himself to her, causing the small Malakete to gasp and leap backwards. Standing there before her was a reptilian humanoid with green skin, an iguana styled head, short, wild black hair with red streaks, a long, flexible tail, and two fingers along with a thumb on both hands. His attire was of a cotton dark purple sleeveless tunic that halted at his waist on the sides and continued further down the front and back till his knees; a gold belt around his waist to keep it firmly in place. Matching shoes made of a tough cloth-like fabric was worn and covering his muscular arms was dark blue steel protective armor._

_"You...You are a Sssth..."_

_"Correction Aasterinian. I'm the **Sssthgar**!" Hissing as he spoke, the Sssthgar quickly covered the distance between the two of them and grasped onto her upper arm roughly that was bare of any armor. Jerking the much smaller creature towards him, his reptilian tongue flicked out from between his muzzle and fangs. Considering the girl stood at perhaps only four foot ten in height at the most, Alister was completely dwarfed by the Sssth that had a grasp on her, who stood at a towering eight feet. "Now unless you wish to end up like the rest of your stubborn race, you'll do as I say. Are we clear on this?" When he got a shakey nod from the Malakete, a fanged, malicious grin slipped onto his features as his top half down to more her height and flicked his tongue out as it ran against her right horn, causing her to shudder in both fear and disgust. "That's a good girl...You are to gain these Avengers' trust and destroy them from the inside out...This will give myself and my followers the perfect opportunity to have a better edge in utterly destroying those Midgardians that had befriended and teamed up with that vile Asgardian, Thor. He will **pay** for what he did to my ancestor, the original Sssthgar. Do not fail me Aasterinian...Or you'll be **joining** them in oblivion."~_

Alister's eyes then shot open as she gasped and jolted as she quickly sat up. Glancing around shakily, she noticed that she was in the room that Clint had given to her that was conveniantly next to his own within the Avengers Tower. As she tilted her head down, she lifted her hands up a bit as she watched them tremble from the fear she felt rushing through her entire body. She wished beyond anything that what she saw was just merely a nightmare, but no...She knew it was real and even worse, she was being given orders by the very one who destroyed her people; leaving her the only one left. As she tried to steady her breathing again and calm her heartbeat, the sound of rushing footsteps were heard till her bedroom door bursted open. Jerking again, as she was still shooken up, Alister darted her wide eyed molten gold gaze towards the door, only to see a bare chested Clint standing there while panting softly from his sudden waking up and rushing over. "C-Clint..."

Seeing the shakened and frightened look on her features, that was all he needed because in that instant, Clint closed the door shut behind himself and quickly strided over to the bed as he slid in on one side; gathering the smaller girl into his lap and arms as he craddled her. Yes, he was a deadly agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, but even he knew compassion and comfort when it was most definately needed. In this case, the one who needed it was the trembling girl in his arms. Lifting his hand that wasn't around her delicate waist, he ran it gently through her hair before he lowered his head and rested his cheek against the top of it. His hand still continued to stroke through her lavender hair gently. "Shh...It's ok Alister. It was just a dream. You're ok; you're safe. Knowone's going to hurt you." He didn't know what her dream had been about and he had no idea that it really wasn't a dream at all that she actually had. All that mattered to Clint at this moment was calming Alister down and letting her see that she was safe with him.

As they stayed like that for a little while longer, Clint felt the girl in his arms finally shift a bit and slowly loosened his grip on her. Lifting his head from resting atop of her own, he tilted his head to get a better look at her face. "You ok now?" When she faintly nodded her head, Clint smiled gently and shifted himself off the bed, taking Alister with him as he lowered her feet gently to the floor. "Alright now. It's still really early, but since we're both awake now, why don't we slip into the kitchen that the entire team shares and fix us something warm to drink? That should help you out in settling your nerves the rest of the way." Getting another little nod from her, he rested his arm gently around her shoulders and lead Alister out of her room while she was still in her pajamas and he in his sleep pants.

Walking down the hall, they soon stepped into the living room that was on the living quarters floor for the Avengers and made their way to the back of the room where the kitchen was. Motioning for the girl to take a seat at the island that was in the center of the kitchen, Clint got to work in fixing themselves both some hot chocolate. Yes, he usually prefered coffee, but this kind of situation called best for hot cocoa so he'd join her with fixing himself a cup of it as well. Once the water was boiling, he grabbed the pot and carefully poured the water into the two mugs before stirring in the mix. Setting the spoon into the sink for washing later, he grabbed the two mugs and held out the one in his left hand for her to take. "Here you go. Careful though; it's really hot."

"Thank you..." Carefully taking the cup into both hands, Alister watched the rising steam through heavy lidded eyes before finally beginning to gently blow on the cocoa. After a moment of this, she figured it was cooled enough and brought it to her lips as she took a sip. Shuddering lightly at the delicious, sweet taste touching her tongue and warming her entire body, her eyes instinctually closed in pleasure of it. All the while this went on, Clint stood there, hunched over with an arm propped up onto the island while sipping his own hot cocoa; his ice blue gaze on her the entire time. She had slipped off into her own little world of sweet, warm bliss that she didn't realize that he was watching her through it all. However, when her eyes finally did open and suddenly found themselves locking with the larger man's before her, a blush came to her cheeks out of slight embarrassment, causing her to glance down at her now half full mug shyly.

Seeing the Malakete blush and become shy all of a sudden, Clint couldn't help but arch a brow at this in amusement as a matching faint smile formed onto his features. A chuckle even escaped him as he found how she was acting to be amusing, but also rather adorable. Apparently, despite her obviously being a lot older than she actually looked, Alister didn't exactly have much experience with guys of any species towards certain matters, if any experience at all. In this case, she didn't seem used to having guys studying or watching her so intently. Was she actually selfconscious? Only one way to find out. "Something wrong Alister? You look a bit flushed. Don't tell me I actually made you uncomfortable."

At being asked this, Alister's eyes widened in surprise and her face flushed a slightly deeper shade of pink before quickly clenching her eyes tightly shut as she shook her head. "N-No. Nothing like that. It's just...I'm not used to males of any species look at me with such intent or facination...I was usually only ever given a look of respect among my kind and I did not exactly get to associate with other races when we traveled between planets..." Biting her bottom lip a bit, she managed to force back most of the blush and calm back down. Lifting her gaze somewhat shyly back onto Clint, she shifted on the stool she was seated on. "My kind may have been nomads, but...even my race had a caste system; a leader, a...vice...as you would possibly call it, and so on. I was the daughter of the High Priest; the strongest user in magic other than my kind's leader himself and being his daughter, I was treated in very high regard...I was, in a sense,...a princess in some manner of speaking. Because of this, no male of any race that was below me in the caste system ever spoke to or even made eye contact with me...So as you can see, everything you have done towards me has been quite new, but...I actually kind of enjoy it at the same time..."

"So your race wasn't all that entirely different from some of the countries that are here on Earth. There's past histories where in a number of countries, members that were really high up in the caste were treated like that as well. A lot has changed since then, but I think there are still some countries that have that way of life. America isn't really like that though and definately not here in New York." Chuckling softly at his own last comment, he set his now empty mug down on the counter and offered the girl a gentle smile. "I'm sure you'll get used to everything around here though and I'll be there to help you out with it all too, though when I go on missions, you'll be coming with me to help out and so I can constantly keep you with me. You'll get to gradually meet the other members of the team, but you'll mainly be around me all the time. Hopefully, you won't get sick of me, haha."

Cocking her head slightly to the side as she took in everything he said, she gently set her own now empty mug onto the counter and offered him a little smile after shaking her head lightly. "No...I do not think I could ever tire of you Clint...You have been nothing, but extremely kind and hospitable towards me even though your leader seems to think of me as a threat. I'm truly grateful for everything you have done for me already since my unexpected arrival here on Midgard...I do not think anyone else would have done so for me..."

"Nah, anyone else probably would've probed you." He was mainly joking for the most part on that, buuut...well, there **was** some truth to it. There were people out there that would've loved to have captured Alister and experimented on her. That was a known fact. Sighing softly in thought of this, he drifted his gaze over at the kitchen clock that was on the wall. It was around the time the sun would be starting to rise so he figured it was best that they head back to their rooms to get dressed for the day. Last thing he needed was a tired and hungover Tony Stark seeing them and getting the wrong idea. It's not that he didn't find Alister attractive cause she most certainly was, but he was her 'guardian' in a sense and plus, his job as a secret agent was more important than the thought of having any sort of relationship with the girl.

"We better head on back to our rooms so we can get dressed. It's too early in the morning to deal with Stark of all people if he comes in here while we still are." Even though she didn't know who he was talking about, she still nodded her head and slipped off the stool as she began to head back to her room. As she did though, Clint slowly followed after her as he kept a few paces behind the girl; studying her. Yes, he didn't have time on such things, but...maybe someday the girl could grow to be a reliable friend and partner out on the field during all his missions...

**To be continued.**

_Little Tsu: *collapses* So...Tired...I'm surprised I even managed ta type up THAT MUCH...Till next time...x.x_


	4. Chapter 4

_Little Tsu: Next chap of my Avengers story. This chap was fresh in my mind so I jus' had ta get it typed up & posted before it went...poof.\o/_

_Enjoy._

**Ch: 4**

Damn it!

It had been a week since that day he found Alister unconscious in that crater. He should've known that this would happen eventually. He had been warned...There had been suspicions even that this was gonna happen! So why? Why hadn't he taken more precaution to prevent it?!

Rushing through the halls after Clint burst out of the opening elevator, he hastily entered in a code and the moment the doors opened to grant him access, he hurried into the massively expansive room. It was only then that he came to a sudden halt and panted lightly as his eyes held a very faint trace of panic while searching the room for the very creature that was supposed to have been under his watch constantly. He couldn't believe he had allowed himself to get careless. That had been sloppy on his part.

"Hey, Legolas. I don't believe I gave you security clearance to enter my sanctuary here."

Darting his narrowed gaze towards the direction of the voice, Clint spotted Tony Stark wiping his hands free of any oil or grime with a work cloth that he kept around his work shop. "Where is she Stark? I know Alister's here. Now where is she?" Taking a step forward, his fists clenched slightly as he tried to keep his cool and usually stoic feel about himself that he tended to have when around the others half the time.

"Hm...Alister...Alister...Ah. You mean Little Dragon? She's here...She's here. Perfectly safe even. Speaking of which, when exactly were any of your going to tell me that we got ourselves a new pet?" Of course. Leave it to Stark to act so calm, collected, and speaking in that usual slightly fast tone as if he was on a coffee kick. When he wasn't getting an answer, he finally rolled his eyes and pointed towards the back where a new suit that he was working on was standing. Right next to it, fiddling with some of the controls over the hologram computer screens in front of her, was none other than Alister. "Smart kid, she is. Didn't think she was technologically advanced, but boy was I wrong. She's got quite the mind. Mentioned that if I routed a mini flux capacitor into my suit, I could - in theory - travel back in time a short distance during a big battle if any of us were to get killed and prevent said murder...Theorically of course, but still rather genius actually once you think about it and could easily give us the advantage when we need it."

Clint just shook his head at this before finally walking passed Stark in a brisk fashion as he headed over towards where the small girl was. She didn't even seem to really notice he was there as she had her back to him and seemed engrossed in whatever it was she was testing out. Halting for a moment though, he glanced behind himself from over his shoulder and gave the genius a slightly irritated look. "Not that it's any of your business, but Alister's my responsibility and last thing I need is your influence on her Stark."

Tony blinked slightly in surprise before lifting a hand as he rested it over his heart; pretending to be insulted and hurt by those accusations. "Do you really think I'd be such a terrible influence on the kid? I'm hurt...Really."

Rolling his eyes at this, Clint faced the front again and walked over to the girl that was hard at work still. As he made it to her side, he rested a hand gently onto her shoulder, causing the spry girl to jump slightly in startlement before quickly turning her head to look up at him in surprise. He had really been about to scold her for wandering off without him and even worse, being around Tony Stark of all people, but when he saw the innocent, yet surprised expression in her widened molten gold eyes, all words that he had been about to say froze in his throat. Sighing softly to himself, Clint shook his head and actually mentally scolded **himself** for falling so easily for such an expression. Alister was the only one capable of getting under his skin and making him soft so easily, which was a shock due to only knowing her a mere week. "Why did you wander off like you did Alister? You nearly gave me a heart attack, you know that?" Of course he said this softly enough so that the King of Eavesdropping didn't overhear anything that he wasn't supposed to...

Which, quite frankly, was everything.

Alister still seemed surprised and startled by this, but now it was from the fact that she had actually worried the man. She honestly hadn't intended for such a thing. Eyes softening a bit as she glanced down and off to the side, she fidgeted slightly under the hand that was still on her delicate shoulder. "I...apologize...I had no idea that you would become concerned for me. It is just that you were so busy in the training room with your weapon, I had not wished to disturb your concentration."

"That doesn't explain why you were with Tony Stark of all people. He's not exactly role model material here and definately not the type to 'babysit' for lack of a better word."

"He saw me wandering around and noticed I was new...He dragged me back here to his lab so as to,...I suppose test,...how intelligent I was. I did not realize I was causing trouble by following Mr Stark here..."

Clint was silent for a moment on this before finally sighing softly in defeat. Kneeling himself down onto one knee before the girl so that he was more her height and now looking up at her a little bit. With his hand that had been on her shoulder now gently grasping around her left elbow, he lifted his free hand to her face and gently coasted her head to turn so that her gaze locked with his deep blue ones. "Alister, listen. I'm not angry with you, alright? I was just worried that something happened to you and then when someone told me they saw you with Stark, to be perfectly blunt, I panicked." When he saw the still apologetic look in her gaze, he offered her a reassuring smile to let her know he meant it when he said he wasn't mad at her. "Just don't leave my side like that again without at least letting me know where you're going, ok? Otherwise, next time Stark decides to 'kidnap' you, I'll be using him as my next target practice dummy."

The last thing the archer said to her finally caused a smile to dance across her delicate features as she even actually let out a breathy little laugh. Closing her eyes gently as she kept the gentle smile up, her head leaned into his large hand as she nuzzled it gently. It had only been a mere week since meeting the man before her and even moreso, she was not even of the same species as he no matter how human she was able to look with her dragon features hidden and yet...Clint Barton had quickly become someone she dearly trusted and saw as her best friend. She honestly didn't know what she would do without him. Unfortunately, as those very thoughts crossed her mind, a sharp, emotional pain shot through her chest as she remembered the promise she was forced to keep. 'I can't...I can't possibly bring myself to betray Clint...'

"Alister? Hey, you ok?"

"Huh?"

"I said, are you ok? You're...You're crying..." Clint's brows knitted in concern. Just what was wrong with his little friend...? Alister had woken up from nightmares everynight and sometimes she cried, but he had no idea why. He could only guess that she was remembering the massacre of her entire kind...Before he could really dwell on the matter any further like he wanted to, a faint buzz sounded off in his ear piece, followed by a voice.

_"Agent Barton, you're being sent out on a mission. Our satelites have been picking up some strange readings, but it's nothing like when Alister showed up via the Bifrost."_

_"So what do you think it is Coulson?"_

_"We're unsure at this point and we've failed to get any visuals of the possible cause. We **have**, however, tracked the readings to the Amazon Rainforest. More specifically, near Manaus."_

_"Roger that. Would you like me to inform Natasha or has she already been briefed on the situation?"_

_"She won't be joining you on this mission. Agent Romanof is needed on another mission with Steve Rogers. You'll be taking Alister with you."_

_"Uh...sir?"_

_"This will be a good test to see if she really is harmless Agent Barton and also where her loyalties lie."_

_"Understood sir. Barton out..."_ Cutting off communications, Clint closed his eyes gently as he sighed softly. He really wasn't sure about this idea. It wasn't at all that he was hesitant in trusting Alister on a mission; it was actually that he wasn't sure if she was ready yet. Slowly opening his eyes, he locked them back onto the small humanoid before him while still kneelt on the floor and saw that she had been watching and listening curiously. "I'm being sent out on a mission. S.H.I.E.L.D's satelites picked something up and I gotta go check it out. They...They want me to take you with me. I want you to know that you have every right to decline if you feel you're not up for it though Alister..."

Seeing the sudden concern and honesty in his gaze as he said this, Alister offered him a faint smile and grasped his hand gently into both of her own since that hand had released her cheek earlier. "I'll go...I wish to accompany you on this mission of yours and assist in any way that I can. I do not feel that I need to prove my pure intentions to this agency, but...I do not wish for you to ever doubt me in my loyalty towards you alone Clint. I will do my best to back you up."

He couldn't help it. Clint had been taken slightly by surprise in her words. Yes, his friend, Natasha was loyal and a very good friend and teammate, but...Well, that trust had taken a while to build up. The girl before him though was willing to do anything at all just to prove herself to him. Not to Director Fury, Agent Coulson, nor anyone else within the agentcy. Just him...Snapping out of his slight shock, Clint finally smiled a bit and nodded his head once before rising up to stand. "Alright then...Lets get you suited up and ready to go."

**To. Be. Continued.**

_Little Tsu: Yeahhh...Kinda short I guess? Well, I was thinkin' of makin' it longer & pull this chap all the way into the mission, buuut I figured it'd be better if the mission began in the next chap...Though whether that chap will get put as a cliffy well,...heheheh...You'll jus' have ta wait & see. lol_


	5. Chapter 5

_Little Tsu: Ok, next chap of this is up & runnin'. Enjoy!_

**Ch: 5**

"Clint...?"

"Yes Alister?"

"...Did your surperiors predict that it would rain...?"

Walking through the Amazon Rainforest as they had gotten a decent distance from their Quinjet when a sudden down pour erupted over the forest seemingly outta knowhere. Not having any cover in sight, Clint was currently carrying Alister on his shoulders as per her request. Reason being, she had brought her large wings out and raised them above their heads to act out as a portable cover much like an umbrella only better since the wings were considerably larger.

"Considering the fact that this is a rainforest, it was likely to be raining or eventually **would** rain during our mission here. Still though,...I didn't expect a sudden down pour like this and especially not when the skies were clear just moments before." He had a point though. Yes, rainforests tended to get rain very often, thus the reason behind their name, but this was almost unnatural as the rain appeared quickly without any warning at all. No looming dark clouds anywhere in sight, no thunder in the distance, nothing.

"So then your world does not have such erratic weather patterns usually?...This is something that is uncommon?"

"Yeah, this doesn't seem natural. With rain, no matter where you are, there's always signs of it coming. This down pour just appeared out of nothing."

"I see...Do you think that perhaps this has something to do with the strange readings your...satelite, I think you called it, picked up on?"

"Maybe..." Clint wasn't entirely sure, to be honest, but if he really had to guess, he was almost certain that this unexplainable down pour was part of the reason behind the strange readings S.H.I.E.L.D's satelites had picked up on. Either that or whatever it detected was what caused this sudden weather change. As he made his way with careful, yet purposeful strides through the forest though, the rain suddenly ceased all at once, causing Clint to halt in his steps and lift his head to glance up at the sky that peeked through the branches of the trees; Alister's wings shifting to rest more raised and outwards at the sides so that both of them could see above their heads. "It stopped...And not in a way that's natural either...Something is definately up now. We best keep going and find whatever's causing this. Hopefully the sudden halt in the rain means we're getting close..."

Nodding her head in agreement towards this, Alister flapped her wings a few times as she pulled herself up into the air a bit and out of Clint's firm grasp that had helped her stay perched on his back despite the quiver of bows and his retractable bow being on his back too. "I will fly ahead and see if I can spot anything from the sky Clint."

Clint seemed hesitant a bit on this as he brought his gaze onto the female creature levitating in the air with the use of her wings before slowly giving a hesitant nod. "Alright, but...be careful Alister. If you run into any danger, then please cry out for me and I'll start traveling as fast as I can..."

Giving a faint smile of reassurance towards him to try and tell him she'd be just fine, the young Malakete flapped her wings a few times lightly before rushing off through the air as she burst up through the canapy of the trees around them. Glancing down through the canapy at where her human companion was on the ground, she watched as he began to move again to continue forward. Glancing around herself through the tops of the vast amount of trees, Alister flew off as she glided smoothly through the air in the direction that they had been going; keeping her senses open for anything out of the ordinary while the tips of her wings skimmed along the tops of the trees whenever they flapped to keep her in flight.

As the search continued, Alister spied a reflective light glinting out of the bottom corners of her eyes through the canapies. Unfortunately, she noticed this an instant too late as a spring load sound was released like from that of a crossbow or catapult and a capture chain with steel spheres at either end of the rope chain broke out through the canapy; spiraling at her rapidly. The weapon coiled around her form, binding her arms and one of her wings down against her torso. Gasping in shock at this, she desperately tried to keep herself airborn by flapping the only wing that managed to escape from being binded. However, she was unable to stay in the air and a startled cry escaped her as her wing gave out and plummeted out of the air as she crashed through the canapy; smashing through branches along the way down. Upon hitting the ground below, Alister landed on her back, causing a sound between a choked gasp and broken pained cry to escape her lips; the feel of her hollowed bones within her wings cracking under the impact shuddering through her entire body.

Whimpering softly in pain as she turned over onto her side, the small girl struggled to push herself up onto her feet while still binded. Not succeeding at all in this, her tail lashed out of hiding within her body and the triple axe end of it curled around to her front and sliced through the rope; freeing herself. The moment the bindings fell away though, the one who had released the weapon at her arrived before her and reached down as they yanked her up roughly by the top of her cape, only to then slam her back against the trunk of a tree; her feet dangling off the ground by three feet. Releasing another cry of pain from the impact with her limp, broken wings, she then began to whimper softly before the one grasping her leaned in and began speaking lowly in a feral hiss in her protective horn coverings that hid her ears, causing her to gasp in slight fear as her eyes shot wide open.

"That's right Aasterinian...I've already arrived on this **pathetic** planet...My army and myself may have landed quite the distance from where you and those disgusting...Avengers reside,...but trust me when I say that we **will** be arriving soon enough. You have, at best, three more days before we arrive. You better keep up your end little Mala**kete**. Otherwise, it will be more than those precious wings of yours that I **break**." With another feral hiss, the Sssthgar stepped back as he dropped Alister, causing her to collapse to the ground again. Hissing angerly as he glared murderously down at the small girl before his feet, he turned his head sharply as he flicked out his serpant tongue. Someone was closing in fast on their location. Narrowing his eyes fiercely, he finally turned around and rushed off, leaving Alister broken on the ground where he dropped her.

Clint soon arrived within the clearing as he broke through the trees and leaped down from the branches he had started to travel along to cover ground more quickly. Landing in a slight crouch, he had his bow out and loaded in preparation to fire, but when he spotted no enemy, he slowly lowered his weapon before replacing his arrow back into its quiver after deactivating the special arrow. As he glanced around, the moment he spied Alister on the ground and in the condition she was in, he suddenly panicked as he closed the distance between them and slid to the ground at her side. "Alister! Are you alright? What the hell happened?!" Scanning her brused and cut up form and the slight rips within her cape, it was then that his gaze finally landed on her wings and he nearly paled at the sight of their condition. Even without touching them or looking through an x-ray, he could tell that they were badly broken and the tears along the membrane only added to the overall damage of them.

Biting his bottom lip, Clint hesitated in even touching his small companion before he finally scooped her up into his arms bridal style as gently as he possibly could despite still getting a pained whimper from her. Pushing himself up off the ground to stand, he made his way back to the Quinjet as he did his best to get back as quickly as he could, but also as carefully as possible so he wouldn't cause her any further damage. He knew that whoever had done this to Alister was still out there most likely, but right now, he had a more important task at hand. As much as he wanted to find who hurt her so badly and also complete the mission Fury had given them, Alister's condition was more important. Upon arriving back at the Quinjet, he walked quickly up the ramp before carefully laying the girl down and strapping her in so she wouldn't jostle any during take off or flight.

Once he decided she was secure enough, he strided to the front and slipped into the pilot's seat as he strapped himself in. Switching all the gages on, he activated the comlink to contact HQ as he lifted off the ground and flew off. "Agent Barton to HQ. I have an emergency. Alister has been badly injured and I need immediate medical attention the moment we land."

_-"This is Director Fury. We read you loud and clear Agent Barton, but you will have to report what happened upon your return."-_

"I'm not sure exactly what happened though. She was attacked while she had gone on ahead to do a scan from above. The one who attacked was already gone when I finally arrived at the location."

_-"...Understood then. Once Alister is tended to and able to talk, we will get a full report from her no matter her condition and that is **not** up for discussion. Fury out."-_

Clint switched off the comlink as the transmission ended and sighed to himself before casting a short glance behind himself to where Alister now laid unconscious due to the pain having become too much for her to handle. "Damn it...Just what happened to you back there Alister...?"

**To be continued.**

_Little Tsu: Heheheh...The beginnin' of the chaos ta come has arrived..._


	6. Chapter 6

_Little Tsu: Ok so I'm kinda on a role here with this story in particular as far as ideas bein' in my head so here's the next chap._

**Ch: 6**

It had been hours since their return to headquarters.

...And just as long since medical officials had taken Alister out of his arms the moment he stepped out of the Quinjet and down the ramp...

Now here he was, sitting out in the hall on a bench, unable to do anything to help in his small companion's emergency care. With his forarms resting upon his knees and his torso hunched over, he couldn't help but close his eyes and bow his head in almost a defeated manner while his hands were clasped together. It had been months since Clint had felt completely helpless; not since Loki's control over him. Yet right now, he couldn't help but feel that way all over again. He continued to remain in that position the entire time since they brought her into the medical wing. He didn't even acknowledge Natasha when she walked over to him and took a seat on the bench next to him at first.

"...It's not your fault. You do realize this, don't you?"

"I shouldn't have let her go scout ahead. If I had just kept her with me, then none of this would've happened."

"Clint..."

"No, 'Tasha." Clint finally jerked his head up at this point and shot a frustrated look towards his friend. "You weren't there. You didn't see how much pain she was in. I heard her screams and came running, but do you know what I saw when I got there?" When he saw Natasha shake her head faintly he continued. "I saw **nothing**...No enemy at all in sight. I had only **just** missed whoever or **what**ever it was and when I looked over to where Alister was, she was in so much pain...If I hadn't allowed her to go ahead or I had just gotten there sooner, maybe I could've prevented it. Maybe she wouldn't be in **there** right now!" Clint angerly pointed at the door that lead into the ER as he said the final part.

Eyes softening slightly towards this, Natasha wasn't entirely sure on what to really say. It was similar to how he felt about what he had done himself while under Loki's control, yet this time it seemed more vocal; more severe in how he felt. "You care about her..." When she saw Clint slowly and hesitantly relax his tense muscles and a certain hesitance flicker in his ice blue gaze, she knew that the mark was hit. "The extraterrestrial in there;...Alister...You care about her...I think more than you let on..."

Narrowing his eyes in slight irritation towards what his friend was saying, Clint rose up onto his feet and took a few steps away from her with his back to the russian. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think you do." Rising up carefully as well, she took a calming step or two towards him. "You've grown to care about her in a way that you didn't mean to. In a way that could possibly compromise missions if she were to get hurt like this again or cause you to get hurt or worse in an effort to protect her out of fear of this happening again..." Lifting a hand up as she closed the distance, Natasha rested it gently onto his shoulder causing Clint to turn his head to glance at it. "We may be agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and two of their best assassins, but...that doesn't mean finding someone to care about so much can become a weakness."

"Since when? You've said it yourself that love is a weakness."

"Yeah well,...love didn't come to me in the form of a superhumanoid from another world."

Before Clint could say anything more, the doors slid open and one of the doctors stepped out to greet them. "Excuse me, but...we've done all we can for the girl. The bones in her wings are hollow much like a bird's, but we've managed to reset them into place and mold some metal casings along the edges to act as casts. The cuts have also been cleaned and tended to and we've stitched up the tears in the membrane of her wings, which hopefully will hold and close up with some time so long as she doesn't use her wings for a while." The doctor then glanced behind himself from over his shoulder to look inside the room where Alister was laying on the medical bed before bringing his gaze back onto Clint and Natasha. "You can go in and see her now...She's resting right now though so please keep it down." With that, the doctor headed down the hall to go give a report.

Natasha watched as the doctor left for a moment before bringing her gaze back up towards Clint as she casted him a slight smile. "Go on. I think you need this Clint. I'll go let Director Fury know that she's still resting and not able to give any report on what happened to her yet." When he gave her a slight thankful nod and went into the med room before the doors closed behind him, she sighed softly and headed off herself.

In the med room, Clint just stood there at the door in silence for a moment as he watched Alister from a distance like he usually prefered to watch anything. After a moment, he hesitantly closed the distance and stood at her bedside as his eyes carefully scanned over her condition. Her armor was off and in a simple little gown that patiants usually wore in hospitals. The cuts that were on her form that had been bare with no armor to protect her were slowly beginning to already heal. Most likely something that those not from Earth were capable of. However, it looked like her wings would take quite a bit longer to heal.

Sighing softly as he shook his head lightly to clear his thoughts and the anger he was feeling welling up inside towards whoever the culprit was that did this, Clint pulled up a chair and took a seat. There was no way he was gonna leave her side so easily now. Not until she got better and even then, he was determined not to let something like this happen again. Drifting his gaze to rest solely on her face now, he gently reached out and grasped her delicate hand into his larger one as he held it gently. "I'm sorry Alister...This is all my fault. I shouldn't have let you leave my sight...But I promise you...This won't happen again. I'll protect you with everything I have..." Once he said this, he gently closed his eyes and bowed his head a bit.

"...Can you really keep such a promise...?"

At the weakened voice, the archer jerked his head back up quickly with his eyes opened once again, only to have them land on the molten gold that he had become to accustomed to seeing. "Alister...Are you ok?"

"Been better...Been worse too, I think..." Chuckling weakly as she said this, Alister blinked faintly as she weakly squeezed the hand that held her own while her gaze remained locked on his. "Can you though?...Really keep such a promise?"

Narrowing his eyes slightly at this, he gave a curt nod to her at the question. "I'd stake my own life on it. I refuse to see you in this condition ever again."

At this point, she really couldn't have stopped them even if she tried. Tears filled her eyes before they finally fell at such a declaration. It wasn't simply because he promised to protect her, but it was mostly because she feared what might become of it. She still remembered the Sssthgar's promise on what he'd do to her if she failed him or decided not to side with him after all and it was because of those threats...- those **promises** - he made on her life, that she now feared for Clint's life. "I do not want you to get hurt or worse...I'm not worth such risk Clint..."

Clint merely shook his head at this and lifted his free hand towards her face as he cupped the side of it and wiped away some of the tears. "Yes, you are...At least to me you are Alister. I'll do whatever it takes to protect you and keep you by my side, ok? Whoever or...whatever...did this to you is gonna pay."

Alister had wanted to try and convince him otherwise. To try and make him reconsider, but the doors slid open at that time and Director Fury stepped in. "I see you're awake now. Since you are, I'm going to have to get a report from you. Who was it that did this to you and don't leave anything out on who it was. I want the truth."

The young Malakete seemed to hesitate on this and the look in her gaze told them that she really didn't want to give out that information, but the sudden glare that Fury was now sending her caused her to finally speak. "They are called the Sssth...They are a race of humanoid lizards and are lead by the Sssthgar, which simply put means 'Sssth leader'...I was attacked by said leader and...he is the the decendant of the original Sssthgar, who was eventually defeated by Thor and those that helped him..."

"If this Sssthgar fellow is the decendant of the one that Thor defeated, then why is he here? What does he plan to do? Did he **tell** you?"

Biting her bottom lip lightly, she nodded her head. "Yes...He did...The Sssthgar and his army...plans to exact revenge on what happened to his ancestor. He wants to defeat Thor and also destroy the world he cares about so much and swore to protect...Starting with the Avengers..."

"And how exactly do you know all this...? He should have known that you were under our care and was working for us so why give out such valuable information willingly towards his plans?" Fury already had an idea of the reason why, but he needed her to say it herself. To cement the idea in place.

Clint knew where Fury was heading towards all this and quickly stood up as he narrowed his eyes at his superior. "Director, you can't really think that Alister has anything to do with this. That's just crazy. Look at the condition she's in sir! Do you honestly think that this Sssthgar would cause all this damage to someone he has **working** for him?"

Fury stared Clint down and narrowed his eye piercingly. "I'd stand down if I were you Agent Barton. You're stepping out of your place and as far as I'm concerned, I have every right to accuse her as I see fit..."

"But sir...!"

"He is correct..."

Clint's eyes widened slightly at this and turned around to glance at the injured girl as she weakly pushed herself up into a sitting position; her wings folded up, but unusable behind herself. "Alister..."

"I'm sorry Clint...But your Director Fury is correct on his assumptions...I was given orders by the very leader of the race that slaughtered my people to gain the trust of the Avengers and then destroy them slowly from the inside..." Releasing a shuddering sigh, she trembled lightly in pain, but also towards the emotions that she was barely able to contain hidden within her. "The Sssthgar...caused this damage to myself because...I was taking too long and...beginning to hesitate...If I failed to help him,...then he would kill me just as he did my people..."

Hesitating or not, that was all he needed to know as he turned around and motioned for two agents that followed him to get her. "Take her to the holding chamber. I want her secured tight so she can't cause any possible trouble. And see if there's any way we can contact Thor. We'll need his help on this and any information on how to fight these Sssth creatures so we'll be ready when they attack. Gather up the rest of the Avengers while at it..."

Alister remained silent through all of this and despite her injuries, she put up no struggle in the slightest bit as her wrists were shackled and she was lead out of the medical lab. Just before she left the room though and vanished down the halls, she casted one last look over her shoulder towards Clint and instantly felt a pang in her heart when she saw the look of betrayel in his hurt ice blue gaze.

Tears welling up in her eyes again, she finally turned her gaze away...and disappeared around the corner...

**To be continued.**

_Little Tsu: Heheheh...I might try ta get the next chap or two up today as well once they're typed up, buuut I dunno yet. We'll have ta wait & see. Please review. It makes me happy & will possibly make me get the next chaps up faster..._


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